The View from the Hermitage, Day 407

The Oscars were last night. I had read a bit about Nomadland, the winner for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Frances McDormand was also a producer, meaning she won two Oscars). Most of the other film titles were totally new to me. I ran through a collection of photos from the "Red Carpet." I had heard of Glenn Close and Chloe Zhao (director of the above Nomadland), but had not heard of any, repeat any, of the other people shown. Most of the dresses (women) and suits (men) were not at all to my taste either. I'm feeling old and curmudgeonly today.

Starting next Monday, I have a series of five medical or dental appointments that I put off while staying in the Hermitage. A mammogram was the last thing I did health-wise, so the mammogram I'll get next week is really only about six weeks late. Last March, I called my dentists' office to cancel my checkup, and they later closed the office which would have canceled my appointment anyway. This means that it will have been about 18 months since my last checkup. I do floss almost every day; still, I'm prepared to hear a list of things that have developed over time. The last appointment calendar-wise is with my hand doctor. That's the one I did occasionally consider doing even as things were closed. I'm not sure what she might have to say about both thumbs and one wrist, but I need them fixed in some way. The final two appointments are to have the ear doc check the screw he embedded in my skull and my annual physical.

The postponement of those medical checks was my choice, and postponing them was in no way life-threatening. But directing health resources toward covid has caused significant drops in critical preventive care including childhood vaccinations, STD testing, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse services, and screening for lead. Data from one large commercial lab showed the lab processed 669,000 fewer HIV tests. Almost 5,000 fewer cases of HIV were identified in 2020 than 2019. The immunization director in the Michigan department of health and human services fears that a new pandemic will take the place of the current one as the result of fewer childhood vaccinations. Measles, for example, needs 95 percent immunization or immunity to maintain herd immunity. Only 81 percent of children 19- to 36-months old and 76 percent of five-year-olds have are current with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations. 

The head of the European Union announced that US tourists who are fully vaccinated will be able to travel to the EU this summer. The Professor may get to do his in-person research meeting in Germany after all. It also appears that fully vaccinated people may not need to wear masks outside any longer. I'm holding off on that one for now. If I have to put a mask on to go into a building, it seems easiest just to wear it outside as well. Half of Americans expect to wear a mask at least half the time after the pandemic has ended. One in four say that they anticipate "frequent" mask wearing.

India just recorded the world's highest daily caseload for the fifth straight day with 352,991 new cases. There were 2,812 deaths. In other words, things are only getting worse. Fewer than 10 percent of Indians have gotten one dose of vaccine, and only 1.6 percent are fully vaccinated. India's surge may, in some parts of the country, be due to the British variant, but that is not the dominant strain throughout the country. Politics have played a major role in spurring the surge. Social distancing and quarantine measures were loosened in March, followed by Prime Minister Modi's holding large election rallies and cricket matches in stadiums bearing his name. India's health infrastructure is one of the most poorly funded in the world. India was the world's largest producer of vaccines but is now experiencing shortages, never mind that the current surge is too high for the country to vaccinate its way out. 

The US has announced that it is prepared to share up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with other nations as long as the doses clear a safety review by the FDA. Unfortunately, the plant that manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US is currently not producing any after having to discard millions of doses manufactured incorrectly. There was no announcement of which countries might receive the vaccine. There are 10 million doses that could be given after FDA approval, but the other 50 million are in various stages of production. The US has already given four million doses to Canada and Mexico, though when those were initially announced they were mentioned as being a "loan." I'm still wondering if the loan will have interest as well as in what form repayment will be made.